Warren Buffett has chosen a successor (to run the company with his son, Howard) — we just don't know who it is yet.

He announced the news in an investor letter this weekend, and though he didn't say exactly who the next leader would be, he did give us a clue that narrowed the list of potential successors down to four people.

Here's the bit:

One additional point about these two new arrivals. Both Ted and Todd will be helpful to the next CEO of Berkshire in making acquisitions. They have excellent “business minds” that grasp the economic forces likely to determine the future of a wide variety of businesses. They are aided in their thinking by an understanding of what is predictable and what is unknowable.

That leaves Li Lu, another Berkshire hedge fund manager; Greg Abel, the CEO of MidAmerican; Matthew Rose, the CEO Northern Burlington and Ajit Jain, the Insurance-Division President at Berkshire Hathaway still in the running.

It should be noted that Buffett had great things to say about Jain in his letter:

"From a standing start in 1985, Ajit [Jain] has created an insurance business with float of $34 billion and significant underwriting profits, a feat that no CEO of any other insurer has come close to matching. By these accomplishments, he has added a great many billions of dollars to the value of Berkshire. Charlie would gladly trade me for a second Ajit. Alas, there is none"